Let me here try to explain what “invisible conditions” means in respect to the halfling project.

It is any condition or personal circumstance of a child which impedes natural life progression through growing up and beyond.

It is a very easy trap to try and group everything under a label - for example the autistic spectrum - when in fact many are outside autism.

The basic simple explanation is conditions that do not show up when seeing a child [this is a child/youth project] but have impact on their outer or inner development.

A child who cannot walk can clearly be seen as disabled - a child who cannot read out loud through dyslexia can simply be put down as slow or dim - so far from the truth more often than not.

A boy who cannot catch a ball, swing a racket, or be good at physical activity often ends up bullied and excluded even by teachers - when in fact that child may have dyspraxia.

ADHD is now a common explanation for almost any “difficult” child - which is to simplistic, but also out there are many who simply won’t accept such conditions exist at all.

It is this ignorance the project wants to face and by simple illustration and text put forward explanations and push forward acceptance.

But the invisible aspect extends further than this to “children who are different” - children who suffer bullying but tell no one - children who have secrets they cannot face or share, children who are finding it hard to be themselves through the fear of not being accepted - for example regarding sexual orientation.

Children for whom life is becoming intolerable - but by most outer signs appear “ok”.

Boys who suffer anxiety / panic attacks can often be confused and very unhappy but put on an act in front of friends and family until things reach crisis point.

So the conclusion to the question “what do I mean by invisible conditions” is anything which outwardly makes a child appear “normal” but who inwardly is in some way different, confused, scared or under achieving with no obvious explanation just by looking at them.